Media Reviews

The Boston Globe In the midst of the massive sprawl that is Istanbul, at the juncture of West and East, Pamuk uses a bickering crowd of family and friends to tell the story of a factious, ever-changing culture and its many points of discord.

The Chicago Tribune Pamuk is such a skilled writer that he renders the most esoteric, seemingly banal topics fascinating . . . Strangeness is light and funny. Pamuk's perspective is generous. He takes a long view of history . . . a remarkable feat.

The New York Times Book Review It’s very funny, while also allowing into Mevlut’s tale the colorful voices and contending perspectives of the world around him . . . For Pamuk the vision of life as a complex web of knowable things provides a terrifically interesting way to write a book.

The Washington Post One of Pamuk’s most enjoyable novels and an ideal place to begin for readers who want to get to know him . . . A love letter to modern Turkey.

The Economist (UK) A textured and rewarding narrative . . . Some of the most memorable chapters are interior monologues from women who, every day, must negotiate defiance and deferral to their men and their in-laws . . . [Pamuk] chooses multiple perspectives over moral judgment, which allows him to focus on the inner lives of his characters as they shape the city that, in turn, shapes them.

The Financial Times (UK) Beautifully done, suffused with a nostalgic light . . . A study of urban modernisation and a lament for a time before the single-mindedness of reformers.

The Guardian (UK) Above all a love letter to the city in all its faded, messy, dusty glory . . . a vast collection of characters, events, houses, food, objects that, the reader realises at the end of 600 pages, are summed up in the name Istanbul.

The Independent (UK) Magnificent . . . [a] sprawling story that Pamuk tells, and Ekin Oklap translates, with panache . . . At the same time as posing philosophical questions about the importance of intentions over outcomes, Pamuk celebrates marriage, parenthood and even quarrelsome extended family . . . [He] is becoming that rare author who writes his best books after winning the Nobel Prize for Literature.

The Sunday Times (UK) Warm and gently engrossing . . . the story of modern Istanbul, of how a decaying, mixed, cosmopolitan city has been massively expanded and transformed by poor migrants from Anatolia. It has a political dimension . . . but at its heart, this is a novel about work, love and family.

Booklist Starred Review. As his meditative hero walks the streets for five decades, balancing his wooden yoke on his shoulders, Pamuk, a deeply compassionate and poetic writer, illuminates 'dreadful and dazzling' Istanbul's violent upheavals and ceaseless metamorphosis, women's struggles for freedom, and the strange vicissitudes of love.

Kirkus Reviews Starred Review. Rich, complex, and pulsing with urban life: one of this gifted writer's best.

Library Journal Starred Review. Although depicting a faraway land, the novel's central concerns are human nature, communication, and interpersonal relationships, and this great writer explores these themes with a universal warmth, wit, and intelligence.

Publishers Weekly Starred Review. This is a thoroughly immersive journey through the arteries of Pamuk's culturally rich yet politically volatile and class- and gender-divided homeland.

Reader Reviews

Books with similar themes

• Literary Fiction
  
• Europe
  
• Asia
  
• Middle-East (West Asia)
  
• 20th Century (multiple decades)
  
• Contemporary
  
• Generational Sagas
  
• Parenting & Families
  
• Dealing with Loss
  
• Adult-YA Crossover Fiction
  
• Books in Translation
  
• Asian Authors
  
• Philosophical
  
• 400+ Pages